When Richard "Dick" Miller was a young man, he recalled his grandfather pointing across a field at a cloud.

"It's raining over there," his grandfather proclaimed. It was 75 years ago, and the comment sparked a life-long interest in weather for Miller.

Dick Miller

He vividly remembers the cloud – a cumulus nimbus, a formation that means storms are near. "Pilots know that you don't fly through one of those, you fly around," Miller said.

Miller lived in Ohio for more than 60 years and attended Ohio University, where he studied to become a meteorologist. His major included classes in physics, mathematics and geography. When he graduated, however, he took a detour from weather and joined the East Ohio Gas Company, where he worked until he retired at 65. Weather continued to hold a fascination for him, though.

Among the jobs Miller had at the gas company was predicting the weather, which was important for scheduling pipe installation.

"They discovered I knew something about weather. If it goes under zero degrees, you have problems," he said, adding that gas is dependent on different factors pertaining to weather, including temperature, wind and sunlight.

It was in Ohio where Miller also developed a passion for the study of tornadoes.

"They're fascinating," said Miller, "unless you get caught in one." Though he never had to live through one, his mother did and it was something he said she never forgot. His mother told him the wind from the twister was so strong that wheat stalks were sticking straight out of a locust tree in her front yard. He said he's probably observed 50 to 100 tornadoes in his life.

Miller said when a tornado is brewing, there are obvious signs. One is hail and no rain.

"If you've got hail and no rain, that's a scary situation. We have the lake here, which is always cooler. Usually, if they're forced over the water, they break," Miller said with a smirk.

Long before Miller began collecting weather data in Leelanau County, he was involved in the science in Ohio. In 1961, he founded the Ohio Department of the American Meteorological Society – and has the newspaper clippings to prove it. He also knows many of the meteorologists on the news. Throughout his 82 years, he's attended many different school and group programs to speak about weather and his work.

During his career, Miller was also a local lobbyist. He's remained politically active throughout the years, and likes to crack jokes about political parties and his interest in politics.

Miller, who first started vacationing in northern Michigan in the 1960s, said people from Ohio would always ask him, "Why are you goin' up there?"

His stock answer: it was a great place to relax and when it was time to retire, Leelanau was the area of choice.

In 1996, Miller and his wife Betty moved to Leland Township where they built their dream home with a view overlooking Lake Michigan. "Cities are no place for older people," he explained.

At their home, he watches storms roll in over Lake Michigan, which comes in handy since he’s a National Weather Service spotter who also provides the Enterprise with data each week. He also has a government-issued rain gage in his front yard.

"I've had an interesting life," said Miller.

Favorite food, book and saying:

Food: Macaroni and cheese, "any old way."
Book: "All the Trouble in the World," by P.J. O'Rourke
Saying: "Vote Democrat and raise your taxes."